Hygienic toothpaste or lotion dispenser

ABSTRACT

Articles of manufacture are disclosed for sanitary dispensing of lotion and tooth-paste. In various embodiments each lotion or toothpaste tube has at least two dispensing ports, each of which may be assigned to an individual household member. In some embodiments the dispensing ports may be stacked on top of each other or may be placed side by side or be located at different parts of the lotion or toothpaste tube. In some other embodiments the dispensing ports may be colored differently or may be different in size and/or appearance. In various embodiments the dispensing ports may be opened by unscrewing, turning, pushing, pulling, lifting, or by a combination thereof. In yet other embodiments small pumps may be used to dispense the lotion or tooth paste. According to the present disclosure, inexpensive multi-port dispensing heads may be manufactured separately for retrofitting any store-bought lotion or toothpaste tube.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates generally to personal hygiene. Morespecifically, this application relates to an apparatus for hygienicallydisposing lotion or toothpaste.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings, when considered in connection with the followingdescription, are presented for the purpose of facilitating anunderstanding of the subject matter sought to be protected.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a prior art toothpaste dispenser.

FIGS. 2-5 show disclosed examples of hygienic toothpaste dispensers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present disclosure is described with reference to severalillustrative embodiments described herein, it should be clear that thepresent disclosure should not be limited to such embodiments. Therefore,the description of the embodiments provided herein is illustrative ofthe present disclosure and should not limit the scope of the disclosureas claimed. In addition, while the following description oftenreferences common plastic and aluminum squeezable toothpaste tubes withscrewable caps, it will be appreciated that the disclosure may includeother types of lotion and toothpaste containers and dispensers. In thisdisclosure, only toothpaste is discussed for simplicity and the word“toothpaste” is used to represent the combination of a paste reservoirand its dispensing ports.

It is common practice for members of a household or for severalroommates to apply toothpaste from a single toothpaste tube to theirindividual toothbrushes using a traditional toothpaste dispenser. Theuse of a shared toothpaste tube and multiple toothbrushes may occurseveral times a day, which is far from antiseptic. More particularly, itis highly likely that each brush, by virtue of harboring undesirablepathogens, transfers variety of germs to the threaded neck or collar ofa dispensing tube. It is also highly likely that some of the tooth-pasteitself, as a consequence of the contact of the opening of the tubecollar with a contaminated toothbrush, may become contaminated. Theprior art toothpaste dispensers thus contribute to possible spread ofdisease at least within a household.

Briefly described, articles of manufacture are disclosed for sanitarydispensing of tooth-paste. In various embodiments of this disclosure,each toothpaste tube has at least two dispensing ports/openings, each ofwhich may be assigned to an individual household member. In someembodiments the dispensing ports may be stacked on top of each other andin other embodiments the dispensing ports may be side by side or belocated at different parts of the toothpaste tube. In some otherembodiments the dispensing ports may be colored differently or may bedifferent in size and/or appearance. In various embodiments thedispensing ports may be opened by unscrewing, turning, pushing, pulling,lifting, or by a combination thereof. According to the presentdisclosure, inexpensive multi-port dispensing heads may be manufacturedseparately for retrofitting any store-bought toothpaste tube.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a traditional toothpaste tube 100having a squeezable body 110 and a screw-on cap 120. A typicaltoothpaste tube 100 also has a neck or collar 130, on which cap 120 isscrewed to close the toothpaste tube. Collar 130 is in turn permanentlyattached around an outlet opening 140 of the squeezable body 110. To usesuch toothpaste tube, cap 120 is removed and body 110 is squeezed toforce the tooth-paste through the outlet opening 140 and subsequentlythrough collar 130. All users of this traditional toothpaste tube mustrub their toothbrush bristles on the same dispensing opening of collar130, which will unavoidably cause transferring of a host of germs amongthem.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example toothpaste 200 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 200 includes asqueezable body 210 and two side-by-side dispensing ports with screw-oncaps 220 and 230. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by twousers. In some embodiments the two caps 220 and 230 may have differentcolors or different designs. For example cap 240 may replace cap 220 foruse by a child. Caps of different designs may be sold separately for usewith various embodiments of this disclosure. In various embodiments caps220 and 230 may be replaced by small pumps to pump out the tooth-pasteinstead of squeezing body 210. In yet other embodiments body 210 may noteven be squeezable and dispensing the tooth-paste may only be performedby mentioned pumps. It will be known to those skilled in the art thatthe multiple ports of toothpaste 200 may be manufactured on differentlocations of the squeezable body 210, such as both ends of thesqueezable body 210.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example toothpaste 300 according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment toothpaste 300includes a squeezable body 310 and two stacked-up screw-on caps 320 and330. As shown in FIG. 3, cap 320 is screwed on the collar of squeezablebody 310 and cap 330 is screwed onto cap 320, which forms an alternatedisposing port. Such an example embodiment may be safely shared by twousers. Some embodiments may be a combination of the embodimentsillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein stacked-up caps FIG. 3 are placedon one or more collars/ports of squeezable body 210. Again, stacked-upcaps of FIG. 3 may be sold separately for use with various embodimentsof this disclosure and with the more traditional toothpaste tubes. Itwill be known to those skilled in the art that, if desired, more thanone cap 320 may be used in the assembly of stacked-up caps.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another example toothpaste 400 according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodimenttoothpaste 400 includes a squeezable body 410 and multiple screw-on caps430 and 440, which are screwed to a dispensing port 420 of thesqueezable body 410. The dispensing port 420 may itself be anon-detachable extension of the squeezable body 410 or may bescrewed/attached onto a neck of the squeezable body 410. Such an exampleembodiment may be safely shared by multiple users depending on thenumber of the screw-on caps. Various embodiments may use any combinationof the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, wherein stacked-upcaps FIG. 3 replace caps 430 and 440 and/or dispensing port 420 isplaced on one or more ports of squeezable body 210. Again, dispensingport 420 and multiple screw-on caps 430 and 440 may be sold separatelyfor use with various embodiments of this disclosure and with the moretraditional toothpaste tubes. In various embodiments caps 430 and 440may be replaced by small pumps for dispensing the tooth-paste.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another example toothpaste 500 according to analternative embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodimenttoothpaste 500 includes a squeezable body 510 and a dispensing collar520, which may be a fixed extension of the squeezable body 510 or may beattached onto the neck of the squeezable body 510. The dispensing collar520 may have multiple dispensing ports/holes 530 and 540. Such anexample embodiment may be safely shared by multiple users depending onthe number of the dispensing ports. As shown in FIG. 5, tube 550, whichis closed at the top, has a hole 560 on its wall, and is placed incollar 520, can be turned to align hole 560 with either of the multipledispensing ports 530 and 540. Tube 550 may be configured to be turnedaround or be pushed and pulled along its axis. In various embodiments,pushing down tube 550 prevents any possible alignment of hole 560 withdispensing ports 530 and 540, and pulling up tube 550 allows thealignment of hole 560 with dispensing ports 530 and 540. Variousembodiments may use any combination of the embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Again, dispensing collar 520 along with dispensingports 530 and 540 may be sold separately for use with variousembodiments of this disclosure and with the more traditional toothpastetubes.

Changes can be made to the claimed invention in light of the aboveDetailed Description. While the above description details certainembodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated,no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the claimed inventioncan be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may varyconsiderably in its implementation details, while still beingencompassed by the claimed invention disclosed herein.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the claimed invention to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above detaileddescription section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, theactual scope of the claimed invention encompasses not only the disclosedembodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementingthe claimed invention.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theinvention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, the inventionresides in the claims hereinafter appended. It is further understoodthat this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but isintended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent arrangements.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with whatis considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isunderstood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosedembodiments, but is intended to cover various arrangements includedwithin the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

1. A hygienic toothpaste dispenser comprising: a paste reservoir havingat least one outlet opening from which a paste may leave the reservoir;and at least two dispensing ports attached to the outlet opening.
 2. Thetoothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein at least one dispensing porthas a screw-on cap or a paste pump.
 3. The toothpaste dispenser of claim1, wherein the paste reservoir is made of plastic or aluminum or acombination of both.
 4. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein thepaste reservoir is squeezable or non-squeezable.
 5. The toothpastedispenser of claim 1, wherein multiple dispensing ports are attached toat least one of the outlet openings.
 6. The toothpaste dispenser ofclaim 5, wherein the multiple dispensing ports, attached to at least oneof the outlet openings, are stacked on top of each other or are separatefrom each other.
 7. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the dispensing ports is closeable.
 8. A toothpastedispenser comprising: a paste reservoir having an outlet opening; acollar attached to the outlet opening of the paste reservoir throughwhich a paste contained in the reservoir may leave the reservoir; and atleast two dispensing ports attached to the collar.
 9. The toothpastedispenser of claim 8, wherein the dispensing port screws to the collar.10. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the paste reservoir ismade of plastic or aluminum or a combination of both.
 11. The toothpastedispenser of claim 8, wherein the paste reservoir is squeezable ornon-squeezable.
 12. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein eachdispensing port is a different color or has a different design or both.13. The toothpaste dispenser of claim 8, wherein the dispensing portsare stacked on top of each other.
 14. The toothpaste dispenser of claim8, wherein the dispensing ports may be in fluid communication with thereservoir one at a time.
 15. A toothpaste dispenser head comprising: abase-cap for attaching the dispenser head to a dispensing collar of atoothpaste reservoir, wherein the base-cap includes a dispensing port;and a stacked-up cap detachably covering the dispensing ports of thebase-cap, wherein the stacked-up cap may or may not have a dispensingport which is configured to be covered by another stacked-up cap with orwithout a dispensing port, and wherein a paste contained in thereservoir may be pushed through the collar and be dispensed from thecollar and/or a desired dispenser port.
 16. The toothpaste dispenserhead of claim 15, wherein the base-cap of the dispenser head isdetachably attached to the collar.
 17. The toothpaste dispenser head ofclaim 15, wherein the reservoir is made of plastic or aluminum or acombination of both.
 18. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim 15,wherein the reservoir is squeezable or non-squeezable.
 19. Thetoothpaste dispenser head of claim 15, wherein the dispensing ports arestacked on top of each other.
 20. The toothpaste dispenser head of claim15, wherein the dispenser head is screwed to the collar of traditionaltoothpaste tubes.